Lamp ejector



Nov. 12, 1940. G. B. KURTZON 2,221,402

LAMP EJECTOR Filed Feb. 25, 1939 5 715116112214 Joy Maw Patented Nov. 12, 1940 UNITED. STATESl PATENT oFFlcE v LAMP EJEcToR George B. xurtz'on, chicago, nl., assignor to Gart den City Plating & Mfg. Co., Inc., a corporation of Illinois Application February 25, 1939,Seilal N0. 258,434

1 Claim. I (Cl. 173-328) ent invention may comprise an elongated lightreflecting housing and a pair of opposed sockets which are adapted to receive an elongated tubular incandescent lamp or a lamp of the fluorescent type. One such lamp xture is described in an application of Carl Krauss, Serial No. 246,050, led December 16, 1938. In accordance with that application, the sockets are designed to receive and have removed therefrom the contact pins or prongs at both ends of the lamp in a plane substantially at right angles to a line drawn through the axes of the contact pins, thereby enabling the lamps to be inserted or removed therefrom by a transverse movement. j Lamp/ fixtures of this general character are especially designed for use in glass show-cases for merchandise display purposes. Since, for esthetic purposes, these lamp xtures are de- 2 signed to provide a minimum of excess width of the housing over that of the lamp, considerable diiiiculty is entailed in the eiorts to remove the ylamps from the sockets. The reason being that there is generally insuflicient clearance space between the lamp and the housing to enable the ngers of an individual to encircle and rmly .grasp the lamp.

The present invention is an improvement over that described in' the application of Carl Krauss 3 referredto above as well as over other lamp xtures designed for use in connection with the elongated type of lamp, in that manually operated means are provided to'eject the lamp from the sockets and thereby enable the facile withdrawal or removal of the lamp from the lamp fixture.

The lampflxture including the novel lamp ejecting means embodying myinvention is simple in design and construction and inexpensive to lamp ejecting manufacture. Moreover, the means are readily and easily operated to eject the lamp from the sockets.

The present invention has many other advantages which will be made apparent in the description of two ,preferred embodiments, however, my invention is not to be consti ued as limited to the details of the invention described and shown in the drawing except as included within the scope of the appended claim,

In the accompanying drawing, which illustrates the invention:

Figure 1 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line I-I of Fig. 3, through a lamp xture in accordance with my invention with parts 5 broken away, showing the lamp, sockets and-lamp ejecting means in elevation with the lamp ejectview, similar to Fig. 2, showing the lamp ejecting means of Fig. 4 in operative position; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the socket mounting shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

Referring vparticularly to Figs. 1-3, there is 25 p,

shown a narrow'elongated lamp housing I0, pref-- erably of metal, bent to form a generally C- shaped section, which is especially adapted for use in a'glass show case. The free longitudinal edges of the 'housing areinturnedI at II, Fig. 3, 30

forming pockets. A metallic reflector I2 has its longitudinal edges sprung into the pockets, causing it to assume a curvilinear form within the housing. The endsof the housing are closed by Y walls I3 and I4. 35

Within the housing IIJ and spaced from the walls I3 and Il are a pair of opposed sockets I5 separated a suitable distance to accommodate a lamp I6. -Each socket is mounted within the" housing in ay desirable manner. each socket is provided with a removable back cover plate 25,` of insulating material, which is secured in any desirable manner, as by a suitable adhesive material, to the downwardly extending leg IB of an inverted L-shaped bracket 45 I9. LThe other leg I'I of bracket I9 is provided with lateral downturned edges, one edge 20, being v rigidly secured'to` the housing as by the bolt I8.

The other edge 20', being supported in a reverse bend in. the housing at 2|.A In this manner, 50 sockets I5 are securely and, at the same time, removably fastened to bracket I9 and the latter, in turn', to the housing.

Lamp I6 is of elongated tubular shape and is provided at each end with a base 22 into which 55 As shown, 4,0`

is molded a pair of contact pins or prongs 23 and 24. The bases are so adjusted that all of the contact pins lie in the same plane. Lamp I6 may be suitably of the fluorescent type sold in the trade under the trade-mark Lumiline; however, other types may be used, if desired.

Each socket I5 .comprises a molded base of Bakelite .or other suitable insulating material `having the general outline of a U and has housed therein a pair of contact members 26 and 21. The contact members may be formed of any suitable conducting material such as a phosphorusbronze spring alloy or -the like. The contact members have oneend shaped to provide a pair of spring jaws (Fig. 3) to receive the contact pins 23 and 24 on the lamp. These jaws are normally disposed in suitable openings within the base of each socket, and are so dimensioned with respect to the size of the openings as to permit of the necessaryplay on insertion or removal of the contact pins. The other ends of the contact members are arranged to provide a means of contact with the binding or terminal screws 28 and 29 which are 'threaded into the substantially at top portion of the Bakelite base. These contact membersare maintained in position within-the base and covered by the back plate 25.

'I'he front'face 30 of the Bakelite base of each socket is provided with a pair of spaced parallel recesses 3| and 32 which establish communication between the Contact pin receiving spring jaws of the contact members 26 and 21 and the lower or curved edge of the base. It is now obvious that by a simple transverse movement of lamp I6 in a plane substantially at right angles to a line drawn through the axes of contact pins 23 and 24, these pins can be inserted in or removed from thespring jaws of the contact members within the sockets. In Figs. 1 and 3, I show lamp I6 inserted in sockets I 5.

To eject the lamp from the socket to the position show n in Fig. 2, I provide a pair of suitable pivoted, lever-type ejectors 33- which can be manually operated to accomplish the desired purpose. Preferably, and as shown in the drawing, each ejector is pivotally secured to a single socket and is used in association therewith; however, this is not essential since the ejectors may be pivotally secured asv desired within the housing. Since both ejectors are identical in construction, only one will be described in detail.

Ejector 33 is of 'generally inverted L-shape and comprises a horizontally extending arm 34 and a downwardly extending lever arm 35. Arm 34 is provided with a semicircular or inverted trough-like portion 36 which extends over and partially surrounds the end of lamp I6 adjacent .to the socket. The outer free end of semi-circular portion 36 is upturned as at 31 so as to present a rounded surface which will press against the lamp bulb to eject the latter from the sockets in a manner to be described.- The other end lof arm 34 is bifurcated to provide a pair of spaced flanges 38 which are disposed on opposite sides of the socket and extend rearwardly thereof. Each ange 38 is provided with an upstanding ear 39 through which a pivot pin 40 extends for pivotallysecuring arm 34 to the socket.- Lever arm 35 extends between iianges 38 and is secured thereto in any desirable manner. As shown., lever arm 35 is formed with laterally disposed flanges 42 which are rivetted to flanges 38 as at 4I. Itv will be noted from Fig. 1 that the lever arm is positioned substantially adjacent to and parallel with leg I6 of bracket I9 and extends downwardly lto a point beyond the lower or curved edge of the socket.

The operation of the lamp ejecting means is now apparent. When it is desired to remove lamp I6 from the sockets; that is, from the position shown in Fig. 1 to that shown in Fig. 2, lever arms 35 are pushed away from the lamp. This causes arms 34 topivot downwardly about pivots 40 and bring curvedl portions 36 into contact with the lamp bulb, ultimately pushing the contact pins 23 and 24 out of the spring contacts 26 and 21., The lamp then occupies the position shown in Fig. 2 and may then be withdrawn or removed readily from the sockets.

In constructing lamp xtures in accordance with my invention, I prefer to wire the sockets I5 prior to insertion thereof in the lamp housing. These wires, designated by the numeral 45, extend through a bushing 46 in end wall I4 and are -attached to the terminal screws 28 and 29 as shown in Fig. l.' The Wires (not completely shown) to the socket remote from bushing 46 are carried along behind reflector I2, and all of the wires are retained in4 position by a supporting plate 41 formed as an angle bracket and secured to the housing by screws 48 near end wall I4.

In the modified form of my invention, Figs. 4 g

to 6, there is shown a housing 50, reector 5I, lamp 52 and sockets 53, al1 substantially videntical to the corresponding parts I8, I2, I6 and I5, respectively, heretofore .described in connection with Figs. 1 to 3. In this form of my invention, however, sockets 53 are tiltably secured to brackets 54 within housing v5I) thereby enabling lamp 52 to .be readily removed therefrom in the manner to be hereinafter described. -Since these brackets are identical, only one will be described in detail.

Bracket 54 is bifurcated at one end, as at 55, providing a pair of spaced parallel flanges 56`and 51. One lateral edge of ange 51 is downturned, similar to edge 20, and is rigidly secured to housing 50 as by a bolt (not shown) and as described in connection with edge 20. One lateral edge of ange 56 is alsodownturned, being similar lto downturned edge 20', and is secured in a reverse bend in the housing inthe manner described in connection with edge 20. The other end of bracket 54 is imperforate and is provided: with a pair of laterally depending opposed ears 59 and 66, by the aid of which socket 53v is tiltably secured to bracket 54.

Socket 53 is provided with a plate 6I secured to the backside thereof. Platel has an extension 62' at the lower end thereof which extends below the bottom of the socket and provides a handle by means of which the socket can be tilted. At the upper end of plate 6I, there is provided' a pair of parallel, laterally opposed ears 63 and 64 which cooperate with ears 58 and 60 and a pin 65, passing through vthem to provide the tiltable mounting for the socket.

In the operation of this form of invention, lamp' 52 may be readily removed from housing 5I) by pushing outwardly on extensions 62 thereby tilting sockets 53 to the position shown in Fig. 5, out of engagement with the contact pins 66 of the lamp. The movement of the sockets back to thenormal position of Fig. 4 in which position the lamp may be inserted in the sockets,`

vided to arrest return movement beyond thenormal position.

While I have described my invention in connection with `a preferred form of socket,A it is obvious that my invention may also be used in connection with other sockets of a similar type, designed for use with the elongated type lamp, to eject the lamp therefrom. It is also obvious that only one lamp ejecting means may be used since substantially the same results are obtained as in the case with the two lamp ejecting means v shown and described.

Iclaim:

An ejecting type of socket for a lamp having pin type terminals, said socket comprising an insulating base having a flat face against which the lamp base is adapted to be disposed, said face having a plurality'of straight parallel slots ex-Y tending from the face edge to inner points on said face. and being deep enough to accommodate contact pins projecting from said lamp base, spring l`contacts insaid slots at said inner points for cooperation with said'pins to make and break connections when said pins are moved along said slots to'and from said inner points respectively, and an vejecting member pivotallyfmounted on said socket base,` said member consisting of a hood portion normally extending over a portion of the lamp and wing portions embracing opposite sides of said base, each of said wings having a pivot pin extending therethrough and into the side o1' said base, said Wings and hood being so disposed that the hood may be moved generally across the iiat face of the base in a direction to ej ect av lamp.

GEORGE B. KURTZON. V 

